December 24, 2021 4:07 am
BOSTON (AP) – The surge in coronavirus cases driven by the new omicron variant is the latest blow to hospitals, police departments, supermarkets and other critical operations struggling to maintain staffing levels. COVID-19 absences among workers at London hospitals tripled this month, and nearly 10% of the city’s firefighters were out sick. In New York, about twice as many police officers took sick time this week than normal. Countries such as Spain have eased quarantine rules to allow more people to continue working. Some U.S. states have called in the National Guard to help boost short-handed hospitals.
December 24, 2021 4:04 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Former President Donald Trump has turned to the Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort to keep documents away from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. A federal appeals court ruled against Trump two weeks ago, but the court prohibited documents held by the National Archives from being turned over before the Supreme Court has a chance to weigh in. Trump appointed three of the nine justices. Trump is claiming that as a former president he has right to assert executive privilege over the records, arguing that releasing them would damage the presidency in the future.
December 24, 2021 4:02 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Forecasters say winter storms that have killed at least two people will bring flooding threats, snow and bitter cold throughout much of the West through Christmas. An atmospheric river of moisture is prompting a wave of storms that could even bring a rare chance of snow to Seattle and Portland. On Thursday, two people died near San Francisco when their car was submerged in a flooded underpass. In the south, a mudslide was reported in a fire-scarred Orange County canyon that had been ordered evacuated but no injuries are reported. The Sierra Nevada could see up to 10 feet of snow and forecasters warned drivers of treacherous conditions.
December 24, 2021 4:02 am
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) – Bangladesh fire services say at least 37 passengers have been killed and many others injured in a massive fire that swept through a crowded ferry on the southern Sugandha River. The blaze broke out around 3 a.m. Friday on the ferry packed with 800 passengers. Rescuers have so far recovered 37 bodies and rescued 72, 48 of whom are being treated for burns. There was no word on what caused the fire. Ferries are a leading means of transportation, especially in the southern and northeastern regions. In April, 25 people died after a ferry collided with another vessel and capsized outside Bangladesh’s capital.
December 24, 2021 3:59 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Police say a man suspected of shoplifting at a store where he worked in Pittsburgh is wanted for homicide in Texas. Officers were called to the Family Dollar store on Wednesday night to assist with the termination of 22-year-old Joseph Tedder of Hutchinson, Kansas. But Tedder fled the scene. Police say they soon learned Tedder was wanted in connection with a homicide in early November in Austin, Texas, that stemmed from a drug deal. Authorities tracked Tedder to a Pittsburgh home and he was taken into custody. He’s awaiting arraignment and an extradition hearing.
December 24, 2021 3:57 am
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – The state Supreme Court is just now releasing its rationale for why it ruled that Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration had no legal authority to require masks in Pennsylvania’s schools and child care centers, even amid a pandemic and surging cases of COVID-19. The court ruled 6-0 on Dec. 10, immediately ending the statewide mask mandate. The justices’ 58-page opinion released Thursday says the Legislature’s move in June to end Wolf’s COVID-19 emergency disaster declaration also eliminated any legal justification for a school mask mandate. The justices say state law gives the state broad authority to protect public health, but it doesn’t empower a mask mandate without a regulation.
December 24, 2021 3:55 am
ALLEGHENY COUNTY — (WPXI) – Testing has confirmed the first two cases of omicron in an Allegheny County resident. According to a release from the health department, the first was from a man on December 7 and was confirmed to be the omicron variant on December 22. The second case, also found in a man on December 13 and was confirmed to be the omicron variant on December 2 “Omicron is highly contagious and is causing daily cases to rapidly increase in other parts of the country and world,” Health Department Director Debra Bogen said Wednesday during the county’s regular COVID briefing. “I expect we will see a rapid rise in the omicron variant in our county in the coming days to weeks.” Dr. Bogen continues to urge people to protect themselves and others by getting vaccinated, wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and getting tested when symptoms set in. Resources, including a Testing Site Locator and a Vaccine Provider Map, are available on the county’s website.
December 23, 2021 2:49 pm
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Jurors have convicted a suburban Minneapolis police officer of first-degree and second-degree manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Black motorist Daunte Wright. The jury deliberated for about four days before finding Kim Potter guilty of both counts on Thursday. Potter, who is white, was a Brooklyn Center police officer when she shot and killed the 20-year-old Wright during an April 11 traffic stop. Potter has said she mistook her handgun for a Taser while she and other officers were trying to arrest Wright on an outstanding warrant for a weapons possession charge. She faces about seven years in prison on the most serious count under the state’s sentencing guidelines, but prosecutors said they’d seek a longer term.
December 23, 2021 8:52 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – U.S. consumer prices rose 5.7% over the past year, the fastest pace in 39 years as a surge in inflation battered Americans as the holiday shopping season was getting under way. The November increase, reported Thursday by the Commerce Department, followed a 5.1% rise for the 12 months ending in October and kept up a trend of annual price gains running well above the 2% inflation target set by the Federal Reserve. Thursday’s report showed that consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of economic activity, rose 0.6% in November, a solid gain but below the 1.4X% surge in October. Personal incomes, which provide the fuel for future spending increases, rose 0.4% in November, slightly lower than the 0.5% increase in October.
December 23, 2021 4:25 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – A California woman who punched a flight attendant in the face and broke her teeth during a flight has pleaded guilty to a federal charge. Prosecutors say 28-year-old Vyvianna Quinonez of Sacramento entered a plea Wednesday to interfering with a flight attendant. Quinonez was on a Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento to San Diego in May when an attendant asked her to buckle her seatbelt, stow her tray table and wear her mask properly during the descent. Authorities say Quinonez punched the woman in the face and grabbed her hair before other passengers intervened. The attendant suffered three chipped teeth, bruises and a cut that needed stitches.
